At a hotel in Lisbon where the CDU’s election night was taking place, Manuel Rodrigues, a member of the Political Committee of the PCP’s Central Committee, praised “the level of participation observed throughout this electoral act” and highlighted the “contribution that the CDU made by bringing local issues to the forefront through its many candidates.”
The communist leader argued that the CDU candidates, due to their “level of knowledge” of local problems and the proposals and solutions they advanced, ensured that the local elections were focused “in the way they should be, that is, local.”
When asked if he believes that the abstention rate might impact the CDU’s results, Manuel Rodrigues stated the need to wait for the results and noted that the abstention rate is “roughly the same as four years ago.”
“The level of participation is very high. The CDU made a major contribution through its thousands of candidates and activists to ensure that participation was indeed very high,” he remarked.
Projections by RTP, SIC, and CNN Portugal indicate that the abstention rate in today’s local elections will be between 43% and 48.3%.
Abstention rates in local elections have exceeded 40% since 2009, with the second-highest percentage of 46.35% recorded four years ago, slightly below the record high of 47.4% in 2013.
As of 16:00, voter turnout for today’s local elections was 43.42%, according to data from the General-Secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Administration, a figure higher than that recorded at the same time four years ago.
According to a projection by the Catholic University released today by RTP shortly before 19:00 in mainland Portugal (18:00 in the Azores), the abstention rate in today’s elections will be between 43% and 48%.
Projections released at 19:00 by SIC and CNN Portugal coincide, both predicting an abstention rate between 43.3% and 48.3%.
